Team
Our interdisciplinarity in the team is the secret to our success, enabling us to support, accompany and guide you in the development and evaluation of products for the healthcare sector in a targeted and objective manner. We bring new expertise to your team, be it linguistic, technical or psychological. We see ourselves as a neutral interface between you as the manufacturer and users from a wide range of application areas. Each project is assigned a team with the necessary competencies to plan and support your project.
Torsten founded Use-Lab in 2001.
His experience and expertise spans many different areas, specializing in medical device usability for more than 20 years. Upon graduating in physical engineering at Münster University of Applied Sciences, he founded and led the Center for Usability Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the university.
Torsten is a voting member of the International Standards Committee (IEC SC 62A / JWG 4) and has contributed to the usability standards (IEC 62366-1:2015 and IEC TR 62366-2:2016). Torsten is also a board member of the Society for Technical Communication – tekom Deutschland e.V. – the largest professional association for technical communication in Europe.
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Anfried holds a degree in French and Economics from the University of Kassel, Germany where she conducted communications research taking into account gender and culture aspects. Anfried specializes in ethnographic studies with critical care users on a variety of medical devices.
At Use-Lab Anfried manages multi-national projects often recruiting and working with clinicians from around the world.
Since joining Use-Lab in 2003, she has successfully conducted numerous studies. She is also responsible for quality management and data protection.
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Thore has a Bachelor of Engineering in Human Technology from Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen in the Netherlands. During a two-year stint for the regular rescue service he became acquainted with the processes involved not only in the rescue service, but also those in operating rooms and emergency wards of various hospitals. As a certified Manager of Regulatory Affairs International (TÜV) Thore is your competent contact person for all requests regarding the worldwide certification of medical products.
He is also a member of the German Usability and User Experience Professionals Association (German UPA).
A part of the team since 2011, Thore’s recent project experiences include human factor studies with ICU and OR users working with a variety of medical devices. Marketing claim studies are also one of his main areas of expertise.
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Claudia studied English and French at the University of Münster and has a qualification as a foreign language correspondent for English and French.
Prior to joining Use-Lab in 2005, Claudia worked with companies in administration and export departments.
In addition to ensuring that Use-Lab’s offices run smoothly, Claudia is primarily responsible for accounting.
With her background in language studies, she also assists in international projects.
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Isabel is a foreign language correspondence clerk and trained travel agent.
Before Isabel joined the team at Use-Lab, she worked as a sales support assistant at a medium-sized enterprise and just returned from a stay abroad to not only assist Use-Lab’s management team, but also support project managers with project coordination. Her professional background as a travel agent gives her the ideal skillset for organizing business trips and assisting in the coordination of international studies.
Alongside Claudia, Isabel makes sure that our in-house guests feel at home at all times.
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Alexander joined Use-Lab in 2018 having completed a MSc in „Human Factors Ergonomics & Cognitive Psychological Engineering“ from the University Twente in the Netherlands, giving him a comprehensive understanding of how to run quantitative and qualitative studies. He supports clients at all stages of the human factors process including project management, regulatory documentation, moderation, observation, and reporting.
Alexander frequently deals with imaging techniques and injection aids.
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Sebastian joined 2006 upon graduation from Ilmenau Technical University as a Biomedical Engineer. His experience also includes one year of service as a medical serviceman.
In addition to being a project manager, he takes care of the administration of the IT infrastructure and is also Use-Lab’s safety officer.
Sebastian’s recent projects include complicated clinical processes as well as studies in diabetes care, critical care, surgery, home care and radiology.
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Michael joined Use-Lab in 2010 upon graduating from Ilmenau Technical University with a degree in Media Technologies.
His emphasis during his studies was on usability engineering; more specifically, user-centered development of software applications. His recent studies include diabetes products, ventilation systems, operating room equipment and infusion technology.
In addition to project management, Michael is responsible for IT administration and maintaining our website.
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Lars has more than 15 years of experience in nursing and an additional qualification as ICU and Anesthesia nurse.
He gained a large part of his practical experience in various intensive care units and in anesthesia. In addition, he has practical experience as a medical device consultant in the areas of medical device procurement, sales and training.
His deep insight into and knowledge of hospital internal procedures as well as of the operation and the field of application of medical devices has been essential for Use-Lab’s projects since joining the team in 2012.
His most recent projects include studies in the field of surgery and intensive care medicine. Furthermore, he deals with combination products and future-oriented innovative solutions for medical devices.
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Christian joined the Use-Lab team in 2016 and earned his master’s degree in biomedical engineering at the Münster University of Applied Sciences in the same year, gaining technical knowledge about various medical devices. Thanks to his experience in documenting the usability engineering process and the respective regulatory requirements, he is able to plan and carry out evaluations for clients as a project manager, as well as checking their documentation in advance, bringing it up to date, and teaching the basics of the usability engineering process.
His current projects include reviewing documentation, as well as international human factors evaluations of devices for universal applications in the OR and their handling during sterilization and analysis instruments for medical laboratories.
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Stephanie holds a Master of Science in cognitive science from the University of Freiburg, where she also received a Bachelor of Science in psychology. Prior to turning to the social sciences, she completed a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering and information technology with a focus on biomedical engineering at the Karlsruhe Institute for technology.
Since joining Use-Lab in 2015, Stephanie has had a keen interest in developing and improving methods for evaluating instructions for use to achieve materials that support user. Her background has also frequently seen her developing questionnaires for in-person and online use during the course of studies.
Stephanie’s recent projects include local and international projects on ultrasound, x-ray systems, and catheters as well as dedicated studies on instructions for use and training materials.
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Julius completed his Master of Science in Human Factors and Engineering Psychology at the University of Twente in 2022. Prior to that, he worked as a human factors consultant in the automotive industry, where he dealt with the design and optimization of user experiences in complex technical systems. Before his studies, he gained valuable experience as an au pair in Boston, which gave him excellent English skills.
Julius is new to world of medical devices and is receiving intensive training, both from the team and independently, to further expand his expertise and support his colleagues
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Elke has been part of Use-Lab since it was founded in 2001.
She has more than 13 years of experience in nursing and an additional qualification as an OR nurse. Elke worked in a variety of healthcare environments, including a hospital OR, an anesthesia department of a day clinic and a gynecology practice.
She has conducted and recruited for numerous user studies with a wide variety of medical products.
Elke’s empathy, excellent contacts in the healthcare sector and her ability to explain studies in a simple, easy to understand manner make her an expert at recruiting participants from rare patient groups to highly specialized healthcare professionals to diverse lay users.
Elke’s recent recruiting projects include extensive ultrasound users, radiologists, ICU nurses with specialist qualifications, and lay users with and without experience injecting themselves.
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